Halle Berry

As a former beauty queen and fashion model, Halle Berry surprised naysayers when she emerged as a multi-talented actress capable of turning in award-worthy performances. Berry made herself known in a...
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Lupita Nyong'o is no longer a young woman who graduated from Yale, made her feature film debut in a critically-acclaimed movie, and became a fashion favorite. As of this past weekend, when she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her unforgettable performance as Patsey in 12 Years a Slave, and when that film went on to win Best Picture of the Year, Lupita Nyong'o the person became Lupita Nyong'o the movement. And for those of us watching closely, this movement (the correct pronunciation of which you can find HERE) has great cultural significance. Attention must be paid.
First of all, if you were able to make it through that without shedding a single tear, then props to you. But for the rest of us actual humans, that speech was everything. And the orchestra playing "Pure Imagination" at the end was absolutely perfect. Still, her acceptance speech at Essence magazine's Black Women in Hollywood Luncheon is a favorite for many of us:
I want to take this opportunity to talk about beauty, black beauty, dark beauty. I received a letter from a girl and I’d like to share just a small part of it with you: “Dear Lupita,” it reads, “I think you’re really lucky to be this black but yet this successful in Hollywood overnight. I was just about to buy Dencia’s Whitenicious cream to lighten my skin when you appeared on the world map and saved me.”
My heart bled a little when I read those words, I could never have guessed that my first job out of school would be so powerful in and of itself and that it would propel me to be such an image of hope in the same way that the women of The Color Purple were to me.
I remember a time when I too felt unbeautiful. I put on the TV and only saw pale skin, I got teased and taunted about my night-shaded skin. And my one prayer to God, the miracle worker, was that I would wake up lighter-skinned. The morning would come and I would be so excited about seeing my new skin that I would refuse to look down at myself until I was in front of a mirror because I wanted to see my fair face first. And every day I experienced the same disappointment of being just as dark as I was the day before. I tried to negotiate with God, I told him I would stop stealing sugar cubes at night if he gave me what I wanted, I would listen to my mother’s every word and never lose my school sweater again if he just made me a little lighter. But I guess God was unimpressed with my bargaining chips because He never listened.
And when I was a teenager my self-hate grew worse, as you can imagine happens with adolescence. My mother reminded me often that she thought that I was beautiful but that was no conservation, she’s my mother, of course she’s supposed to think I am beautiful. And then … Alek Wek. A celebrated model, she was dark as night, she was on all of the runways and in every magazine and everyone was talking about how beautiful she was. Even Oprah called her beautiful and that made it a fact. I couldn’t believe that people were embracing a woman who looked so much like me, as beautiful. My complexion had always been an obstacle to overcome and all of a sudden Oprah was telling me it wasn’t. It was perplexing and I wanted to reject it because I had begun to enjoy the seduction of inadequacy. But a flower couldn’t help but bloom inside of me, when I saw Alek I inadvertently saw a reflection of myself that I could not deny. Now, I had a spring in my step because I felt more seen, more appreciated by the far away gatekeepers of beauty. But around me, the preference for my skin prevailed, to the courters that I thought mattered I was still unbeautiful. And my mother again would say to me you can’t eat beauty, it doesn’t feed you and these words plagued and bothered me; I didn’t really understand them until finally I realized that beauty was not a thing that I could acquire or consume, it was something that I just had to be.
And what my mother meant when she said you can’t eat beauty was that you can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What is fundamentally beautiful is compassion for yourself and for those around you. That kind of beauty enflames the heart and enchants the soul. It is what got Patsey in so much trouble with her master, but it is also what has kept her story alive to this day. We remember the beauty of her spirit even after the beauty of her body has faded away.
And so I hope that my presence on your screens and in the magazines may lead you, young girl, on a similar journey. That you will feel the validation of your external beauty but also get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside. There is no shame in black beauty.
In a world where women of color are still lightening their skin, in a world where the typical black woman on screen looks like Halle Berry or Paula Patton, in a world where Kerry Washington and Gabrielle Union are considered to be dark-skinned beauties (and it is still a big deal that they are being so embraced by Hollywood), Nyong'o as a fashion and beauty icon (she's also the new face of Miu Miu) is no small thing at all. The legacy of slavery still very much operates in our culture, and part of that legacy pertains to black women with lighter skin being labeled more beautiful and more valuable (a scene in 12 Years a Slave shows that, indeed, slave owners were willing to pay more for those enslaved blacks with lighter skin). For hundreds of years, black beauty has been defined by non-blacks, and while that is still very much happening today — even with Nyong'o's story — it is wholly refreshing to see all shades of black beauty finally being embraced in a very public light.
When Nyong'o hit the Academy Awards red carpet she was, of course, bombarded with questions about her gorgeous pastel-blue gown. It was designed by Prada, and — more importantly — she said that it reminded her of her hometown, Nairobi, Kenya. And wouldn't you know it — Kelly Osbourne of E!'s Fashion Police immediately and appropriately labeled the look #NairobiBlue, which then began trending on Twitter. It is also no small victory to see the name of an African city become equated with a thing of beauty, to become beautiful itself.
But race and black beauty aren't the only issues at play here. While many folks might have looked at her rise to fame as a rags-to-riches story, it's important to note that Nyong'o comes from a middle-class upbringing. She prides herself on being the daughter of a Kenyan senator, and the cousin of Isis Nyong'o, who recently made the Forbes list of Most Powerful African Women. She completed her undergraduate studies at Hampshire College and earned her MFA from the Yale School of Drama. All of this to say that she is an educated, fabulous, talented force of nature. And judging by her Instagram account, she's just as much as superfan of all things pop culture as the rest of us. Her presence in this world is huge right now, and watching her inspire young men and women everywhere makes the notion of celebrity status far more enjoyable.
#TeamNairobiBlue
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"I'm surprised I had the one I just had! So I doubt God is going to bless me again. I think I'm done!" Actress Halle Berry is convinced her family is complete after welcoming her second child, son Maceo Robert Martinez, in October (13) with husband Olivier Martinez. The 47 year old is also mum to five-year-old daughter Nahla with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry.

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Once regularly under fire for their lack of diversity, the Academy Awards have gained a reprieve in recent years as people of various ethnic backgrounds have received nominations and scored wins. This year, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Lupita Nyong'o both earned acting nominations for 12 Years a Slave, while the film's director Steve McQueen was nominated as both a director and producer. Gravity's director Alfonso Cuaron was nominated in the same categories as McQueen, and Barkhad Abdi (Captain Phillips) notched a nom for Best Supporting Actor. In recent years, there have been wins in supporting categories for Octavia Spencer and Mo'Nique, and in directing for Asian filmmaker Ang Lee.
Compared to the the majority of the Academy Awards history, where wins for actors like Sidney Poitier, Rita Moreno, and Jose Ferrer were very much the exception and not the rule, the Oscars are far more diverse. Of course, that's like saying that there have been strides made to curb global warming... any progress is great, but that doesn't mean that there isn't more work to do.
Publisher Lee &amp; Low recently analyzed the first 85 years of Oscars to spotlight issues such as there being only one minority winner (Halle Berry) in the Best Actress Category, that only one woman (Kathryn Bigelow) has ever won for directing and that only six minority performers have won for Best Actor... and that's including Ben Kingsley, who is of Indian descent. The Los Angeles Times originally published a look at the members of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts &amp; Sciences in 2012 and updated it in 2013 to show that 93-percent of those casting votes were white and about three quarters are male. Academy president Cheryl Boone Isaacs, who is a black female, helped spearhead a movement to add new members to the voting pool, but the Times found that the changes have had only a minimal impact on the percentages.
The makeup of the Academy's voting blocks are only partially to blame, however. While there are some women and minorities in top decision-making roles at studios, like Sony Picture's Amy Pascal and Warner Bros CEO Kevin Tsujihara, the majority of studio executives are still white males. The movies made by Hollywood, while perhaps more diverse than in the past, still feature casts and crews that are predominantly white and, particularly behind the camera, largely male. Adding to the problem, UCLA's 2014 Diversity Report showed that only a small group of talent agencies represent an overwhelming majority of the actors, directors and writers making movies for studios, but that their rosters were less diverse compared to all other agencies combined.
While there has been progress in films featuring black actors, there is still a gap when it comes to representing other minority groups like Asians and Hispanics. The last Asian actor to be nominated for a leading role was Kingsley in 2003. Not counting European-born actors like Penelope Cruz and Javier Bardem, or Joaquin Phoenix, who was born while his parents were living in Puerto Rico, only one Latino actor (Demian Bichir for A Better Life in 2011) has been nominated for a lead role in the last 10 years.
Until Hollywood starts telling stories that are as diverse as the nation as a whole, and employing casts and crews that represent that diversity, there will continue to be only minimal gains realized at the Academy Awards. After all, the prerequisite for earning an Oscar nomination is having the opportunity to do the work in the first place.
There might come an award season where an actual mix of nominees in all categories adequately represents women and minority groups, but it hasn't happened yet. Just being better isn't good enough.
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There are only a few days left until the 2014 Academy Awards, so most of our predictions are solidified by now. But even though Cate Blanchett appears to be a lock for Best Actress and Alfonso Cuaron has the highest odds of winning Best Director, there's still one race that's impossible to guess: Best Supporting Actress. The two candidates who could snag the trophy are Lupita Nyong'o for her work in 12 Years a Slave and Jennifer Lawrence for her performance in American Hustle.
Normally, we could just rely on the previous awards shows to help influence our predictions. Blanchett and Cuaron have both swept their categories, as have Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto (who we think will take Best Actor and Best Supporting Actor, respectively). But Lawrence and Nyong'o have split the opinions of the various awards organizations, which means the Oscar is still anyone's game. In an attempt to solve this problem once and for all and help you solidify your Oscar pool, we've taken a look back at all of the women who have won Best Supporting Actress in order to see if we could use the winners of yesteryear to determine who will walk home with the trophy on Oscar night.
Major Precursor Awards Won: 2 (for each)Lawrence won both the Golden Globe and the BAFTA for her role as Rosalyn Rosenfeld, while Nyong'o picked up the Critic's Choice Award and the Screen Actor's Guild Award for playing the slave girl Patsey.
Actresses 25 and Under Who Won Best Supporting Actress: 8If Lawrence, who at 23 is the youngest actress to earn 3 Oscar nominations, were to take home the award on Sunday, she would join a list of young winners that includes Tatum O’Neal, Patty Duke, Goldie Hawn, Anna Paquin, Jennifer Hudson, Angelina Jolie, Teresa Wright, and Anne Baxter.
Actresses Between 25 and 30 Who Won Best Supporting Actress: 13At 30, Nyong'o would be in good company as a Best Supporting Actress winner, as Shirley Jones, Mary Steenburgen, Marisa Tomei, Mira Sorvino, Miyoshi Umecki, Gloria Grahame, Kim Hunter, Sandy Dennis, Rita Moreno, Eva Marie Saint, Anne Hathaway, Meryl Streep and Celeste Holm also took home an Oscar around the same age.
Best Supporting Actress Winners Who Won for Their First Performance: 9It's hard to believe that 12 Years a Slave is Nyong'o's first feature film, but she's not the only actress to impress the Academy with her debut perfomance: Katina Paxinou, Mercedes McCambridge, Eva Marie Saint, Jo Van Fleet, Tatum O’Neal, Goldie Hawn, Miyoshi Umecki, Anna Paquin, and Jennifer Hudson all stunned on their first try.
Actresses Who Won Best Supporting Actress After Winning Best Actress: 3 After winning for Silver Lining's Playbook at last year's awards, Lawrence would join an elite club of women who topped their Best Actress win with a Best Supporting Actress trophy. : Helen Hayes, who won Best Actress for her work in The Sin of Madelon Claudet in 1931 and Best Supporting Actress for Airport in 1970, Ingrid Bergman, who took home Best Actress for Gaslight in 1944 and Anastasia in 1956 then won Best Supporting Actress in 1974 for Murder on the Orient Express, and Maggie Smith, who was awarded Best Actress for The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie 1969 and followed it up with Best Supporting Actress for California Suite 1978.
Best Supporting Actress Winners Who Won on Their First Nomination: 51The Best Supporting Actress category has been particularly kind to newcomers, with 51 actresses who have taken home gold on their first nomination (a fact that bodes well for Nyong'o). If she wins, she would be added to the long list that includes Gale Sondergaard, Hattie McDaniel, Jane Darwell, Mary Astor, Katina Paxinou, Ethel Barrymore, Anne Baxter, Celeste Holm, Mercedes McCambridge, Josephine Hull, Kim Hunter, Donna Reed, Eva Marie Saint, Jo Van Fleet, Dorothy Malone, Miyoshi Umecki, Shirley Jones, Rita Moreno, Patty Duke, Margaret Rutherford, Lila Kedrova, Sandy Dennis, Estelle Parsons, Goldie Hawn, Cloris Leachmann, Tatum O’Neal, Beatrice Straight, Mary Steenburgen, Jessica Lange, Linda Hunt, Peggy Ashcroft, Anjelica Huston, Dianne Wiest, Olympia Dukakis, Geena Davis, Brenda Fricker, Mercedes Ruehl, Marisa Tomei, Anna Paquin, Mira Sorvino, Juliette Binoche, Kim Basinger, Angelina Jolie, Marcia Gay Harden, Jennifer Connolly, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Rachel Weisz, Jennifer Hudson, Tilda Swinton, Mo’Nique, and Octavia Spencer.
Actresses Who Have Won Best Supporting Actress for a Comedic Role: 7Although the Academy tends to favor dramatic performances, the Supporting Actor and Actress categories often reward more comedic roles, like Lawrence's. If she wins, she would join the seven other women who laughed their way to an Oscar: Josephine Hull for Harvey, Goldie Hawn for Cactus Flower, Maggie Smith for California Suite, Olympia Dukakis for Moonstruck, Marisa Tomei for My Cousin Vinny, Mira Sorvino for Mighty Aphrodite, and Penelope Cruz for Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Actresses Who Have Won Best Supporting Actress Winners For Playing Servants: 3Although Nyong'o would be the first Best Supporting Actress winner to win for portraying a slave, three women have previously won for playing servants: Gale Sondergaard, Hattie McDaniel, and Octavia Spencer.
Actresses Who Have Won Best Supporting Actress for Playing the Wife of the Lead: 7Before Rosalyn Rosenfeld came along to "inspire" her husband Iriving, there were countless other wives who played a key role in their husband's stories, and seven actresses won an Oscar for playing them: Mary Astor, Kim Hunter, Gloria Grahame, Jennifer Connolly, Rachel Weisz, Meryl Streep, and Mary Steenburgen.
Black Women Who Have Won Best Supporting Actress: 4If Nyong'o takes home the Oscar on Sunday, she will become only the fifth black woman to win Best Supporting Actress, and just the sixth black woman to win an acting Oscar overall. The previous Best Supporting Actress winners are Hattie McDaniel, Whoopi Goldberg, Mo’Nique, and Octavia Spencer, while Halle Berry is the lone black Best Actress winner.
Actresses Who Have Won Best Supporting Actress for Playing a Character with a New York Accent: 2Whether you love Lawrence's accent in American Hustle or it makes you want to stab yourself in the ears, there's no denying that the New York accent is a tricky one to pull off. Only two women have done it well enough to earn an Oscar: Marisa Tomei as the wise-cracking fianceè of the title character in My Cousin Vinny and Olympia Dukakis as Cher's mother in Moonstruck.
Our Prediction: Lupita Nyong'o Despite being evenly matched, we think that the combination of 12 Years a Slave being Nyong'o's film debut, as well as her first nomination will help swing the votes in her favor, as the Academy has proven that there's nothing it loves more than an impressive breakthrough performance. Plus, she deserves it, and we have to believe that there is some semblance of justice left in this world.
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New mums Kristen Bell, Malin Akerman and Jaime King are celebrating after the editors of a top magazine and a popular showbiz blog pledged to stop publishing paparazzi photos of celebrities' children. The Veronica Mars actress and her husband Dax Shepard have been spearheading a new campaign calling for a boycott of tabloids which feature unapproved pictures of stars and their kids, in a bid to protect the youngsters from aggressive snappers.
The couple took its fight to U.S. TV on Monday (24Feb14), when Bell admitted she had become a savage "mama bear" since giving birth to daughter Lincoln last year (13), and her fighting talk has already won her support from People magazine and JustJared.com.
On Tuesday (25Feb14), People's editorial director Jess Cagle published an open letter online, claiming he had already taken a stand against using paparazzi photos of stars' kids since taking on the role in January (14), and JustJared.com founder Jared Eng followed shortly afterwards by announcing his own #NoKidsPolicy rule, promising not to share unapproved snaps or videos of celebrities' kids who are not public figures themselves.
The news prompted Bell to publicly thank the pair via her Twitter.com page, writing, "i'll be proud do my next interview w/ (with) @peoplemag & I'm planning something special around #veronicamarsmovie w/ (with) @justjared ! #nokidspolicy".
The Watchmen star Akerman also tweeted her approval for Eng, adding, "Im so excited that @justjared is the FIRST BLOG to apply a #Nokidspolicy! His site is a great place for Ent (entertainment) news, now w/ (with) NO MORE pedorazzi (sic)!", while King tweets, "SO PROUD of @JaredEng #BRAVE #OURKIDSTHANKU (sic)".
Jenna Dewan Tatum, who is mother to nine-month-old baby girl Everly, and actresses Ashley Tisdale and Jessica Szohr have also tweeted their support for the move.
The paparazzi boycott picked up speed last year (13) after Hollywood mums Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner joined forces to fight for new legislation to protect the kids of stars. Their successful campaign led to new laws that restrict what photographers can do around children and how close they can get.

New parents Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard have hit the U.S. TV circuit in an attempt to push a boycott of tabloids which feature paparazzi photos of celebrities and their kids. Actress Bell admits she has become a savage "mama bear" since giving birth last year (13), and she has warned photographers not to get too close to her daughter Lincoln.
Now she's urging other celebrities to refuse to pose or agree to be interviewed for publications whose editors buy in family snaps from the paparazzi - and her campaign has reached television.
Bell and Shepard appeared on news show Entertainment Tonight on Monday (24Feb14) to push for a total blackout in a bid to hurt publishers who refuse to ignore concerns about celebrity child safety.
She said, "I've had (famous) parents tell me that they have to have, like, a mantra for their kids when they're in the car, saying, 'They can't hurt us, they can't hurt us, they're just annoying'. It's just not worth it."
Shepard was keen to point out that he and his wife see nothing wrong with celebrities taking photos of their kids and posting them online, insisting sometimes they have no choice.
He added, "We think there's a huge difference in a mother photographing her child in the home and 10 strangers chasing a kid on the street. It wasn't taken by a man jumping out of a bush.
"A good friend of ours, Josh Duhamel, who's the last guy who would exploit his child for his own popularity, he tweeted a photo of his child because the paparazzi would not leave their gates."
Last year (13), Hollywood mums Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner joined forces to fight for new legislation to protect the kids of stars. Their successful campaign led to new laws that restrict what photographers can do around children and how close they can get.

Actress Alyssa Milano has joined pals Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard in calling for fans to boycott any publications which run photos of celebrities' children by sharing her own personal plea online. Married stars Bell and Shepard launched a Twitter.com campaign last month (Jan14), asking devotees to help them protect their baby daughter, Lincoln, from the paparazzi by refusing to purchase magazines which plaster images of stars' kids all over its pages.
Angry Bell wrote, "I wont do interviews 4 (sic) entities that pay photogs to take pics of my baby anymore (sic). I care more about my integrity & my values than my career.
"The 'look at the celebs kid at the park!' teaches us a disengaged voyeurism. think abt (about) how being followed by photos all day effects THE KID.' Now think about how you play the MOST NECESSARY role in the sad chain of events-the consumer. Things won't change till the consumer does."
Milano retweeted the messages at the time and now she has publicly voiced her support for the cause.
Sharing her own photo of her young son Milo, she writes, "Please don't click on links that are publishing paparazzi pics of Milo. Here's a personal pic instead."
The stars' efforts come months after Halle Berry and Jennifer Garner successfully managed to campaign for an anti-paparazzi law, which imposes tougher penalties on cameramen who constantly tail public figures and their kids in California, and also makes it easier for parents to sue for damages over harassment. The bill went into effect on 1 January (14).

Sony Pictures via Everett Collection
Halle Berry is a beautiful and talented actress with a bevy of film credits to her name. When it comes to predicting whether the Academy Award-winner can make the transition to television, however, her success in films means absolutely nothing.
Berry and Steven Spielberg are teaming up for a sci-fi series called Extant, which is scheduled to premiere on CBS in July. Berry will play an astronaut that returns from a year in space and tries to reconnect with her family. Since the title of the show means "surviving" and CBS' teaser for the show shows life being created, rumors have already started that the show's mystery will include an unexplained pregnancy.
Besides Berry, television vets Goran Visnjic (ER) and Camryn Manheim (The Practice) are on board as her husband and best friend, respectively. The fact remains, however, that the show's success will largely hinge on whether audiences are willing to accept Berry in a completely different venue.
The trend for screen actors moving to television for years now has led most to cable, where the production runs are shorter and the creative license is greater, whether that's Laura Dern in Enlightened or Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson in True Detective. Network fare is a completely different animal, where ratings and advertising dollars trump any creative concerns. For every success like Kevin Bacon in Fox's The Following, there are plenty of others like Kathy Bates, Bette Midler, and Christian Slater that come and go in a blink.
Berry is certainly a capable actress, but do television audiences really want to see her as an astronaut? Even if it turns out to be one that's pregnant with an alien? Spielberg's team will have to come up with some pretty enticing twists for Berry's move to TV pay off.
Should she fail, though, there will probably always be another X-Men movie to help cushion the blow.
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Screen Gems
When David Mamet's play Sexual Pervesity in Chicago was adapted into the 1986 movie About Last Night, the self-absorbed Chicago twenty-somethings were played by Rob Lowe, Demi Moore, Jim Belushi, and Elizabeth Perkins. In the 2014 remake, those parts are now being played by Michael Ealy, Joy Bryant, Kevin Hart, and Regina Hall and nothing about that seems unusual. It isn't that Mamet's play has changed much in the 40 years since he first wrote it, it's that some of the audience's preconceived notions of who can play what role have.Just as it happened with the reworked The Karate Kid that featured Jaden Smith in the title role made famous by Ralph Macchio, About Last Night takes a '80s story and adds some ethnic diversity to come up with something new. Well, there's a whole lot more movies from the '80s that are just sitting there waiting for just such a redo. Here are five stories that would work just as well in a more coloful version.
Sixteen Candles
Molly Ringwald playing the forgotten girl on her birthday, in love with an older boy and tormented by geeks in the John Hughes classic. Everything about the story still works, including the Chicago suburban setting that was ultra-white in the '80s. Disney Channel stalwart Coco Jones is the right age to play the teenager in love, and Zoe Kravitz would make a fine addition as her attention-hogging older sister. So what if Jones and Kravitz don't look alike? Ringwald looked nothing like her onscreen family in the original. In the all-important older guy role, someone like 90210's Tristan Wilds could provide the smolder. The only real issue would be what to do with the original's exchange student, The Donger. That was a role so racially regrettable that it doesn't exactly have a place in today's world.
Working Girl
In Mike Nichols' film, Melanie Griffith played the secretary that secretly takes over for her out-of-commission boss (Sigourney Weaver), proves a capable business woman, and wins the affection of Harrison Ford. The Griffith character would have to be called an assistant now, but otherwise there isn't much about the story that needs to change. Use someone like Kat Graham (The Vampire Diaries) or Tika Sumpter (Ride Along) as the underling trying to get ahead, maybe Halle Berry or even Gabrielle Union as the obnoxious boss and Taye Diggs as the love interest, and update the setting from a generic New York investment bank to the entertainment idustry. What Hollywood assistant doesn't want to push the boss out of the way and take over?
Flashdance
Sure, people remember the soundtrack but how many people remember the story? A steel-worker by day who dances in a bar by night, all while dreaming of making it as a legitimate professional dancer, and is pursued by her rich boss. Back then she wasn't really a stripper, but now she would have to be and she'd be trying to break into something hipper than ballet. The role could also be played this time by someone that can legitimately dance, since Jennifer Beals, the original star, was famously replaced by a body double. Someone like That Awkward Feeling's Jessica Lucas would work, or else there's got to be a Janelle Monáe back-up dancer that's ready to break out.
Caddyshack
Tiger Woods broke on the scene nearly 20 years ago, so a golf comedy set at a country club and featuring a diverse cast shouldn’t be any big deal. It's near sacrilege to many to consider remaking such a beloved classic, but a new version would be shooting for a whole new audience. After all, golfers of all colors are tired of reciting the same tired lines from the original. Start with Hart taking on the Rodney Dangerfield role of the rich guy that doesn't like the country club set. Imagine letting Hart riff on a bunch of rich people while dressed in ugly golf garb, throw in Saturday Night Live's Jay Pharoah as the wacky grounds keeper, and it just flows from there. You could have a who's who of comedy going... Godfrey, Chris Rock, Mike Epps, Katt Williams, Faizon Love… there would be a part for just about everyone. Heck, even Eddie Murphy might be convinced to do the Judge Smails role that Ted Knight made famous. That would be top notch.
Three Men and a Baby
Tom Selleck, Ted Danson and Steve Guttenberg were three well-off bachelors sharing a fabulous midtown Manhattan apartment that have their lives interrupted by a baby being dropped off at their doorstep. The idea of guys taking care of babies continues to be played for laughs, most recently in the sitcom Guys with Kids. What has been missing since Three Men is the angle of the guys being rich, Type A personalities. Take Jesse L. Martin, Tyler Perry and Damon Wayans Jr., move the setting to Hollywood, make them all successful and sharing a Charlie Sheen-type playpen, and then let a baby screw up their lives. It's comedy gold.
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Halle Berry's newborn son, Maceo, made his first public outing in Los Angeles on Monday (10Feb14) when his nanny took the tot to visit the actress on the set of her new TV series Extant. The Oscar winner gave birth to her first child with husband Olivier Martinez in October (13). She is also mum to daughter Nahla, her only kid with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry.

Played multiple roles in "Cloud Atlas," based on David Mitchell's 2004 novel; film co-directed by Andy Wachowski, Lana Wachowski, and Tom Tykwer

Summary

As a former beauty queen and fashion model, Halle Berry surprised naysayers when she emerged as a multi-talented actress capable of turning in award-worthy performances. Berry made herself known in a small, but memorable role as a crackhead in Spike Lee's "Jungle Fever" (1991), though she was subsequently underused in "The Last Boy Scout" (1991) and "Boomerang" (1992). She turned in a finely crafted dramatic performance as a drug-addicted mother trying to regain custody of her son in "Losing Isaiah" (1995), while her role as a gutsy flight attendant in "Executive Decision" (1996) garnered positive reviews. With the trappings of fame, however, Berry was a constant source of public scrutiny, starting with her divorce from baseball star David Justice through her turbulent marriage to singer Eric Benet and later her nasty custody battle with ex-boyfriend Gabriel Aubry. Throughout her personal travails, Berry delivered a fine dramatic performance in "Bulworth" (1998), earned an Emmy for "Introducing Dorothy Dandridge" (HBO, 1999), and won the Oscar for her brave turn in "Monster's Ball" (2001), becoming the first African-American to win Best Leading Actress. Though Berry's take on the comic book heroine Storm in the "X-Men" franchise earned her blockbuster status, her leather-clad prancing as "Catwoman" (2004) earned her certain ignominy. Nonetheless, Berry had the rare ability to excel in both major tentpole movies and small indie dramas, making her one of the more sought-after actresses working in Hollywood.

Name

Role

Comments

Gabriel Aubry

Companion

Met at a Versace store opening in Manhattan in February 2006; Father of Berry's daughter; Announced split in April 2010

Caucasian; From Liverpool, England; Raised Berry and her sister as a single parent

Heidi Berry

Sister

Older; Halle was estranged from her; the actress told Movieline in December 2001/January 2002: "We fought a lot. We don't know but part of me feels that we never recovered from the adolescent years. We fought for real. Sometimes drawing blood. I moved away from home at such a young age that the relationship never quite repaired itself."

Dated c. 1989 to c. 1991; Sued Berry in November 1993 for $80,000 he claimed he loaned to her during their relationship; suit dismissed by a judge because Ronan did not list any outstanding loans to Berry during a bankrupcy filing in 1992

Education

She was named Halle (pronounced HAL-ee) after the Halle Brothers department store.

Her official Web site was www.hallewood.com

At the age of 22, Berry was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes.

She told Movieline (December 2001/January 2002) that in 1995 she was the victim of a mugging in the parking garage of the Beverly Center shopping mall in Los Angeles, CA.

On the fact that Berry was of both black and white parentage, she said: "I see people on talk shows who are mixed, and they seem very confused. Sure I got called 'zebra' and 'Oreo cookie' in school, every little kid gets teased. But I think it's healthy to decide if you're one or the other, no one wants to be in the middle. That's why I decided early that I was black." – Berry quoted in USA Today, Nov. 20, 1991

"I'm aware of a real double standard about how attractive women and men actors are seen to be as they age. When I'm in my 40s and 50s, I really see myself in a different lifestyle than making movies. I want to have a family. I'm hoping to get out of the movie business before gravity takes a hold of my face." – Berry quoted in Movieline, April 1995

"It's hard enough being an actress, but being a black actress. Now I've played Dorothy Dandridge, so there's no other role for me to play." – Berry to The New York Times, Aug. 15, 1999

According to a Reuters report (March 1, 2000), on Feb. 23, 2000, Berry was involved in an automobile accident from which she allegedly fled. She reportedly sustained a cut to the forehead which required between 15 and 20 stitches. Berry was later charged by authorities with leaving the scene of an accident. On May 10, 2000, Berry pleaded no contest and was placed on three years probation and ordered to pay $14,000 in fines and penalties. The driver of other car involved filed a civil suit seeking damages. The lawsuit was resolved in an out-of-court settlement in May 2001.

Although he was initially reluctant to cast her in "Monster's Ball" director Marc Forster told Premiere (December 2001) that he changed his mind after meeting Berry: "She was so open. I felt that I was meeting this person who is so raw, vulnerable, committed and passionate."

"I'm not so good. I have a lot to learn. And I'm just trying to do it before I get too old. I'm racing the clock!" – Berry on acting to Movieline, December 2001/January 2002

On her decision to do nude scenes in movies, Berry explained to the Los Angeles Times (Jan. 2, 2002): "I worked hard to be what people wanted. I used to be obsessed with wanting their approval, way back to my childhood. Particularly the black community. So many black people would approach me and say, 'My daughter aspires to be like you. Stay positive.' So I'd try to stay that way. I thought that if I did nudity, I'd let them down and send the wrong message to those girls. But then I realized it's not my job to raise those girls."

"Being the product of an interracial marriage, I've always known the racial divide is insane and ridiculous. This film speaks to the issue that people are racist because they are taught to be. Those attitudes are passed down without meaning. The sad part is that these people don't even understand why they believe what they believe. But in this film, those beliefs get challenged." – Berry quoted in the Los Angeles Times, Jan. 2, 2002

"I was acting before that from a place of fear, worrying about what people thought of me. The experience of "[Introducing] Dorothy Dandridge" freed me from that. I got to relive her struggle, which was very much mine, and I thought, 'Okay, I can either keep going around and around making lateral moves and 50 years from now somebody will be telling my story and going, 'Well, Halle could have done this but she was too scared to go there' or I can break the cycle and approach my career from a more courageous standpoint." – Berry to Entertainment Weekly, Jan. 18, 2002

"Oh, my God. Oh, my God. I'm sorry! This moment is so much bigger than me. This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It's for the women that stand beside me: Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox, and for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door, tonight, has been opened. Thank you!" – Berry's speech after receiving her Best Actress Academy Award in 2002

Berry was named one of People Magazine's 50 Most Beautiful People for 2004

"So after that great high, I hit one of the greatest lows I've ever experienced. I plummeted right back into the depths of this valley that I'm just now sort of resurfacing from." – Barry on finding out about her husband, Eric Benet's sex addiction only days after winning the Oscar to GQ magazine, August 2004

Berry received Harvard's Hasty Pudding woman of the year award in 2006.

Berry opened up to Parade magazine in March 2007 about trying to commit suicide shortly after the demise of her first marriage to Atlanta Braves baseball player David Justice.

"It's a big myth that after you win an Oscar the movie god drops all the best scripts in town at your door." – Berry to Empire magazine, May 2007

"I'm so looking forward to getting back to work. It's been good being a mom, and I love it, but Nahla's gotten to a point where it's okay for me to get back to what I love, to have that creative outlet." – Berry quoted in Vogue, September 2010

On Feb. 1, 2011, Berry announced plans to take ex Gabriel Aubry to court to fight for custody of their two-year-old daughter Nahla. Aubry initially filed a paternity petition on Dec. 30, 2010, seeking a court order establishing that he and Berry have joint physical and legal custody of their daughter. In February 2012, Berry asked a judge for permission to move to France with her daughter because she was fearful of the paparazzi, a request that Aubry opposed. An extensive custody evaluation was put in place to determine whether Berry was allowed to take Nahla out of the country. In June 2012, a judge ordered Berry to pay Aubry a reported $20,000 a month in child support. A few months later in November 2012, a judge ruled that Berry was not allowed to take her daughter to live permanently in France.

Aubry was arrested for misdemeanor battery on Thanksgiving morning (Nov. 22, 2012) after a fight with Berry's companion Olivier Martinez. The two fought outside Berry's L.A. home and were sent to the hospital for injuries. A few days later on Nov. 29, 2012, Berry and Aubry settled their custody battle with an "amicable agreement" in court.